Team Resolutions?

Many people identify personal resolutions in the new year that they abandon at varying paces during the month of January. In fact, some 80% of us give up by the time February rolls around.

I’ve often wondered whether the success rate would be better if accountability was part of the process. There are many ways to create accountability, but each participant needs to have some skin in the game.

Have you ever created resolutions – goals – as a team? I don’t normally see this as a collective activity, particularly because it’s hard for each team member to see what’s in it for them in a meaningful way.

But why not try something different this year? Arrange a 90-minute brainstorming session for your team to identify three key goals for your organization for 2019. These need to be SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time based) that most people agree to. Keep in mind that you’re unlikely to get 100% agreement, but a solid majority is sufficient to create momentum.

These goals should be easy enough for anyone to articulate, explain, and “own”. Here are some examples that you can flesh out in the SMART format.

+ Increase our donor base by x people or y dollars for this fiscal year.
+ Our departmental revenue will increase by specific dollar amounts in each quarter.
+ We will identify 6 new suppliers who offer [xyz] terms.
+ We will add 3 new marketing initiatives, which will be rolled out on a specific timeline.

Once your team has agreed on three goals, don’t put them in a drawer and forget about them. Include regular updates at your staff meetings, including specific contributions made since the last meeting. Make it fun to keep everyone involved.

When the team co-creates the goals, as opposed to being handed goals from the leader, there is more engagement and more likelihood of success. And at the end of the year, everyone will have a sense of pride and accomplishment by knowing that they contributed to the success.